


upside down

by candyharlot



Series: zine fics [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 07:03:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11777958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candyharlot/pseuds/candyharlot
Summary: Tendou props his bony elbows on the table and rests his chin in his hands. “Now that you and Wakkun are buddies n' all, I figured I might as well get to know ya a bit better,” he says. “First question: what’re ya doin’ here at Tamabi? Chuo’s over an hour away. Hot date?”Oikawa gives a tight grin and, in a set of measured movements, sets down his phone, brushes his bangs out of his face, leans back, and crosses his arms over his chest.“Notthat it’s any of your business...”Oikawa and Tendou bump into each other on the first day of winter break and Tendou... Well, Tendou does what he does best.





	upside down

It's a mild winter day in Tokyo; snow isn't falling, but patches of it litter the street corners and line the gutters. Tendou kicks a pile of it as he struts down the sidewalk to the beat of an akiba-pop playlist. Finals are finally over, he just caught up on two weeks’ worth of all-nighters, and he’s going to spend the weekend with Ushijima watching the new season of _Natsume Yuujinchou_. Things are pretty great.

One of the baristas, a kid with a mohawk and more piercings than Tendou has nendoroids, is sweeping the café when Tendou slips inside. They wave at him, and he gives an energetic wave back, shivering as the warm air settles on his cheeks.

The café itself is a cozy spot, down the street from his dorm at Tamabi and—unlike the cafe in the student center—the wi-fi there doesn’t block Tendou’s torrent client. It’s also open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and, since it's home to other art majors like him, there are plenty of corners for him to hide in or paint-stained tables to take over whenever he has a project to finish and his roommate has to sleep. There are also several easels, a chalkboard that covers the entire wall, and two rickety bookshelves full of reference books and former students’ sketchbooks, left behind.

It’s a good spot. There are times when he feels like he might even belong here. Well, as much as someone like him can belong anywhere, anyway.

He only has to wait in line for about a minute before the guy in front of him steps up to the counter, and his shrill, fake-ass laugh interrupts the fast beat Tendou’s drumming against his jean pocket. Sure, he can be loud and obnoxious sometimes, but it’s too fuckin’ early to deal with others of the same breed.

“Good morning!” the guy chirps. “I'll have a grande upside-down caramel macchiato, with extra caramel. Oh! And—” He sidesteps over to the pastry case and smudges a finger against the domed glass. “One of _those._ ”

As he reaches into his messenger bag and pulls out his wallet, revealing a handsome, strangely familiar profile, Tendou blinks. Narrows his eyes. Blinks again.

“Well, I’ll be damned. If it ain't Oikawa fuckin' Tooru,” Tendou drawls, and he bites down on a toothy grin when Oikawa whirls around with a mouth full of matcha bun. “How ya been?”

“Shit. You’re—” Oikawa coughs, wiping his mouth with the cuff of his navy-blue blazer. A tiny bit of filling hides in the corner as it tugs into a frown. “Oh,” he says after a moment. “I know you. You’re that weirdo blocker from Shiratorizawa. In that case, why don’t you run along and—”

“I have a name, y'know,” Tendou interrupts, enjoying the way the muscle in Oikawa's jaw twitches. “It's Tendou. Tendou Satori. _Miracle_ _Boy_ Satori. I can't believe ya forgot about me, Tooru-kun! After all the fun times we had, too.”

_“Caramel macchiato with extra caramel at the bar!”_

They stare each other down for a few more beats before Oikawa tilts his chin up and away. “How annoying,” he mutters as he shoves his wallet back into his bag. He turns on his heel, but not before giving Tendou a glare from behind bangs that're just a smidge too long. “Your beanie is super lame, by the way. No one actually _likes_ _One Piece_.”

Tendou whistles low as he pulls out his own wallet. “Hater,” he mumbles. He never did understand why someone with a personality like _that_ was so popular, why Oikawa always seemed to attract the limelight, but then again, if it's one thing he's learned in art school, it's that aesthetic is everything—and Oikawa _is_ handsome, for all that he is vain and frivolous.

“Excuse, me, sir,” a small voice says. “Are you ready to order?”

Tendou glances up to meet a pair of round, worried brown eyes. Right—he’s probably holding up the line. “Sorry ‘bout him,” he says as he fishes out a few yen and places it in her outstretched hand. “He’s just got his panties in a wad. Could I just get four shots over ice and a bagel with extra cream cheese? Thank ya.”

\---

As Tendou watches Oikawa sip at his macchiato—which he apparently requested to be in a ceramic cup, because of course he did—he recalls his late-night phone conversation with Ushijima only a few days before.

_“Jump's freakin' out a bit since Oda’s announcement that One Piece is ending next year.” Tendou arched his back like a cat before curling into a ball on his futon, cradling his phone between his ear and his pillow. “Anyways,” he murmured. “Still there, Wakkun?”_

_The only reply was warm static and the sound of Ushijima's slow, deep, rhythmic breathing._

_“Wakatoshi?” Tendou repeated, a little louder this time. “Oi! Did ya really pass out on me already? It’s barely eight o’clock.”_

_There was the rustling of sheets, and a cheap bed frame creaking. “Hm? Ah. My apologies.” Ushijima tried—and failed—to muffle a bear's yawn. “Practice has been rather tiring this week.”_

_Tendou's grin tugged downward but he managed a laugh as he stared up at the pasty popcorn ceiling of his own dorm room. “S'all good,” he assured. “I was just ramblin'. So_ — _how's the new team workin’ out for ya? Still havin' trouble with that pain-in-the-ass setter from Seijoh?”_

 _“Mmmm.” Ushijima heaved a sigh, and Tendou had to close his eyes because all he could think at the time was how fucking_ nice _it would've been to rest his head on that broad chest, feel that strong, even heartbeat against his cheek._

_“I suppose so, yes.”_

_Tendou swallowed the dry patch in his throat. “He’ll get bored eventually,” he said. “Guys like that are just lookin' for validation. Once he realizes you're not gonna play into that bullshit, he'll give up. Easy as pie.”_

_“Perhaps.”_

_For the rest of the conversation, there was an uncharacteristic sadness, a hopelessness underlying Ushijima’s tone that stuck with Tendou long after the call ended._

It echoes in Tendou’s ears as he plops down in front of Oikawa and drops his backpack to the floor beside him. “Yo,” he says. “Mind if I join ya?”

Oikawa sets down his coffee cup. “I do mind, but I guess this is better than trying to ignore the way you were staring at me from across the room.” He sighs. “What do you want?”

Tendou props his bony elbows on the table and rests his chin in his hands. “Now that you and Wakkun are buddies n' all, I figured I might as well get to know ya a bit better,” he says. “First question: what’re ya doin’ here at Tamabi? Chuo’s over an hour away. Hot date?”

Oikawa gives a tight grin and, in a set of measured movements, sets down his phone, brushes his bangs out of his face, leans back, and crosses his arms over his chest.

“ _Not_ that it’s any of your business,” he begins, in a tone cool enough to compete with the air frosting the window beside them, “but I went to a _private_ party and it ran too late for me to catch the rail home. Also—I don't know what kind of stories he's been feeding you, but Ushiwaka-chan and I aren't _buddies_.”

“Sure, sure.” Tendou slurps down the rest of his espresso, pleased when the people around them turn to stare and Oikawa shifts uncomfortably. “Well, ya know Wakatoshi-kun—he's the quiet type. Stories are more my wheelhouse.”

Oikawa sniffs before taking another sip of his macchiato. “No, I _don't_ know him,” he grumbles, tongue darting out to lick a stripe of foam off his upper lip. “And I'd like to keep it that way.”

Tendou smirks, but his chest tightens at the bitterness in Oikawa’s tone, and he wonders if this is how he sounds when he talks to Ushijima.

“Yeah?” Tendou lifts his gaze. “And why's that?”

A bright flush stains the bridge of Oikawa’s nose. “Why do you think, genius?” he retorts. “Because he—”

“Oh! Wait. Lemme guess.” Tendou pauses for effect, tapping his chin. “It's easier to hate someone ya don't know, right? When ya get to know someone, they become _human_ , and the more human someone is, the harder it is to hate ‘em.”

Oikawa's mouth snaps shut and the blush deepens, spreads down his neck, under the collar of his wrinkled white button-down. The corner of his eye is twitching in a way that makes him look a tad unhinged, and would probably scare most, but all Tendou feels is glee because _he's struck a nerve._

“Save your breath,” Oikawa says, pretenses gone. His expression is hard as he turns his face towards the window. “You don't know anything about me.”

“Sure don’t,” Tendou agrees. “But that doesn’t really matter, does it?” He leans in, until he can see the mossy flecks reflected in Oikawa’s eyes, the fine patch of stubble he missed during his rushed morning shave. “I know Wakkun pretty damn well, and I don’t really think it’s fair to him for someone he’s only ever said good things about to treat him like shit. Do you?”

Tendou raises his eyebrows for emphasis, and Oikawa crumbles.

“What?” he rasps, eyes wide. “ _What?_ ”

“Ya heard me.” Tendou leans back in his chair and rests his hands behind his head, not bothering to hide the smug grin creeping up his face. “Wait— _seriously_? For such a smart cookie, ya sure are oblivious. Wakkun’s always thought you were the fuckin’ bee’s knees. _I_ never really got it, but—”

Oikawa buries his face in his hands and groans. “Ugh! God, you’re so. _Annoying._ You really don’t know how to mind your own business, do you?”

“Nah. Where’s the fun in that?” Tendou waggles his eyebrows when Oikawa glances up. “Say, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t ya come find me next time ya have one of those fancy parties? I’ll even get dressed up. Imagine it: me, in a swanky suit—”

“I think I’ll pass, if it’s all the same to you.” Oikawa shakes his head, but the longer they stare at each other, the more the corner of his mouth trembles with what Tendou _suspects_ is a barely-contained grin, and for some reason, Tendou can only think of what it’d be like to kiss it, tug that pouty bottom lip between his teeth—

His face burns hotter than the sun as he watches Oikawa rise to his feet and swipe a hand through his hair, the very picture of suave—well, except for the subtle tremor in his hand.

“Don’t think this makes us…friends or anything,” Oikawa adds as he shoulders his messenger bag. “Also, just because you lent a...new perspective doesn’t mean I’m going to let Ushiwaka-chan off the hook, either. We have a _history_. I can’t just—”

“Let it go?” Tendou offers. “Why the fuck not? Live a little, Tooru-kun. This is _college._ What’s it for if we don’t try new things?”

Oikawa hesitates before rolling his eyes. “Fine,” he grumbles. “Will you leave me alone now?”

“O’ course. Nice chattin’ with ya, Tooru-kun,” Tendou sing-songs. “See ya around.”

“Hah!” Oikawa scoffs over his shoulder as he saunters away. “In your dreams, Miracle Boy.”

\---

**Author's Note:**

> a bite-sized dose of My Brand™ written for the haikyuu!! farewell zine :) hope y'all enjoyed it!


End file.
